Since we had such success with Jaques Pepin’s Garlic Soup, M and I decided to try his Onion Soup Gratinee Lyonnaise. He gives a fantastic tip on his site that we did not follow and should have: For an onion soup not to collapse, the bowl has to be filled to the rim with stock and bread. The cheese layer should cover the whole surface, so it sticks to the side and forms a crust that holds its shape and doesn’t sink. We spread ours out a bit between too many ramekins and you can see the sinkage. We used the 1 1/2-quart oval dish and two 16-ounce round dishes from our CorningWare® French White® 14-Piece Bakeware Set. We probably should have just used the 2 round dishes and maybe the smaller ramekins. The onions were still sauteed and then cooked in the broth to perfection and the taste was incredible. And I have to say, baguette croutons are just as delicious as they sound.
Monsieur is kind enough to provide a “How to Chop an Onion” tutorial, very handy to cut down on crying time.
And I’m done with the soup puns.
I think.
Ours, pre-broth:
and post-cooking:
Jacques Pepin’s:
Onion Soup Gratinee Lyonnaise
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp. corn oil
- 1-1/4 lb. onions, peeled and sliced thin
- 1/2 lb. Emmenthaler cheese, grated
- 1/2 lb. Gruyere cheese, grated
- 10 cups chicken stock
- 1-2 cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and chopped
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1 French baguette, cut into 36-48 slices
Instructions
- Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan on high heat, add the onions, and sauté for 10-12 minutes until browned.
- Mix the grated cheeses together and set aside.
- Add the stock and garlic to onions. Boil gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
- He says to push the soup through a food mill, and add pepper and salt, but we left the onions and rest of the ingredients the way they were. They cooked through very well, so they didn’t need any mushing in the food processor.
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Arrange bread slices in one layer on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Place 6-8 bread slices in each of 6 12-oz. bowls and arrange bowls on a cookie sheet.
- Turn oven up to 425°.
- Sprinkle 2 tbsp. of cheeses on top of bread and fill bowls to the rim with soup. Sprinkle 1/2 c. of cheeses on top of the soup, making sure it covers the soup and touches the entire inside edge.
- We did a second layer of bread slices under the last cheesing as well.
- Bake for 30 minutes until cheese is melted and browned. Serve.
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